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Middle East Witnesses Striking Increase in Infected Systems

Internet security firm, Trend Micro, stated that the number of systems infected with malware had been rising in the GCC. As per the data compiled by the security firm, there were almost 740,097 active infected systems across the GCC in April 2010, an increase of 116% in less than one year.

This recent hike is a part of a historical trend in the GCC. In the span of five years (2004-2009), the region witnessed an increase of 8,140% in the number of infected systems.

The security firm also disclosed that Saudi Arabia had been frequently attacked over the years. Between 2004 and 2009, the number of active and infected systems rose by a striking 45,072%. In the same period, the rate of infection in the UAE increased by 4,553%.

In Kuwait, it increased by 1,545% while in Qatar, it rose by 4,468%. Bahrain witnessed the infection rate of 6,047% and Oman 8,921% for the same period.

Ian Cochrane, Marketing Manager, Trend Micro Middle East and Africa, stated that the number of infected systems indicated that hackers were quite proficient in their job. The visible infections got almost double in nearly one year. Lack of efficient security measures in this region facilitated hackers to taste success, as per the reports by ITP on August 5, 2010.

Cochrane stated that in order to curb the hackers' growth, it was necessary to recognize the regions vulnerability and effective measures should be taken.

Dave Rand, CTO Trend Micro, said that the reliance on web increased the vulnerability and most of the people did not even know that their systems were hacked. Protection on the Internet was not a difficult task. Users should use professional security software which included regular scanning, exercise private caution, etc., as per the reports by AMEinfo on August 1, 2010.

Further, users are advised to install anti-malware software on their systems in order to remain protected and safe.